Ally Marotti

Local Market owner Eva Jakubowski is seen Dec. 9, 2019, just before the grocery store opened in a long-vacant space in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.

The grocery store that put an end to South Shore’s food desert will start offering delivery via Instacart

June 18, 2020 at 8:32 p.m.

The South Shore neighborhood was a food desert for more than half a decade, until Local Market opened in December. Next week, the grocery store will add delivery to its...

ASK ABOUT THE TRADITIONS | If you see people on your social media posting and sharing their forms of celebration this year and you'd like to be able to observe the holiday too, ask someone about the traditions behind the holiday. Simply learning about something new and having an understanding of a culture or a race's celebration unlike your own will open your world view that much more.

Thousands of Chicago employees will get a day off Friday for Juneteenth in the wake of George Floyd’s death. ‘I don’t think that companies knew until now.’

June 17, 2020 at 12:07 p.m.

Juneteenth largely has been just another workday at Chicago companies — until now. In the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of police and the Black Lives Matter...

Pharmacist Pamela Jones, owner of M&R Prescription Center, stands outside her boarded-up business, June 5, 2020, in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. Although the pharmacy is still open, Jones said she boarded up the windows and door after people broke in and vandalized the store earlier this week.

Chicago’s black-owned businesses face uphill battle to rebuild, even with outpouring of support after George Floyd death

June 5, 2020 at 11:10 p.m.

The death of George Floyd has prompted fresh calls to support the black community, but some of its business owners, hit hard by looting on the South and West sides,...

Justin Reyes administers a COVID-19 test to Maria Suarez outside Heartland Health Centers in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood on July 10, 2020.

SpotHero lays off 42 employees, saying COVID-19 hurt the parking industry

June 3, 2020 at 8:18 p.m.

SpotHero laid off 42 of its 189 employees Tuesday, citing a parking industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The layoffs represented 22% of the Chicago-based company's...

A demonstrator burns an American flag during a march in the Loop on May 29, 2020, to bring attention to the May 25 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Chicago marijuana dispensaries close indefinitely

June 2, 2020 at 4:20 p.m.

The bulletproof security glass inside Mission South Shore marijuana dispensary was supposed to be impenetrable. But it gave way Sunday afternoon to looters armed with crowbars and baseball bats. They...

Jessico Dickerson, who works as the wellness lead at Dill Pickle Co-Op in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, is seen at the store on May 22, 2020.

COVID-19 spurs union pushes among Chicago-area essential workers. ‘We’re not just burger flippers. We’ve been essential.’

May 28, 2020 at 5:23 p.m.

Concerned about their safety on the job as the coronavirus pandemic continues, workers at Chicago-area grocery stores, marijuana dispensaries and other essential businesses are increasingly pushing to unionize. Workers at...

Nakisha Hobbs (cq) and her business partners will be out at least $50,000 if they don't win one of the 40 marijuana craft grow licenses up for grabs in Illinois, seen here in Douglas Park in Chicago on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. coronavirus, COVID-19

The money is coming from their own pockets, and the longer the coronavirus pandemic delays the application process, the higher that figure will climb. They've already paid a landlord $25,000 to hold a property in Schaumburg where they want to open their facility. They'll have to pay him $5,000 more each month for him to hold it past July 1. The state has delayed application deadlines for the licenses, and Hobbs worries they'll delay the awarding of them, too.

(Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Legal marijuana was supposed to help communities hurt by the war on drugs. But COVID-19 may crush efforts to diversify Illinois’ largely white weed industry.

June 3, 2020 at 11:37 p.m.

Opening a marijuana business has never been easy. The industry is highly regulated. Weed is still illegal under federal law, which makes it harder for companies to land financing. And...

Ryan Schulz, a builder at Nimlok Chicago, shows a custom-built mobile partition on May 18, 2020, in Des Plaines. The company makes exhibits for trade shows but has pivoted to making partitions and "sneeze guards" since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Trade show display maker lost 90% of revenue amid the pandemic. Now it’s making office barriers, and business is looking up.

May 27, 2020 at 8:06 p.m.

Everything started going down the drain March 1, said Andrew Perutz, president of Nimlok Chicago. That was weeks before restaurants shut down. Children were still attending school, and Chicagoans were...

The 327-335 Belden by the Park building is seen May 20, 2020, on Belden Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

‘Under the cover of night’ elite Francis W. Parker School bought condos in covert bid to expand, Lincoln Park neighbors allege in lawsuit

May 21, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

A Lincoln Park condominium association is suing the elite Francis W. Parker School, alleging it and others engaged in a "covert scheme" to acquire the building and use the property...

Mariano's parent company, Kroger, will not seek repayment from employees the grocery chain overpaid for time they took off to self-quarantine.

Mariano’s parent Kroger will not seek repayment from workers it overpaid during COVID-19 outbreak

May 20, 2020 at 1:26 p.m.

Mariano's parent company, Kroger, will not seek repayment from employees the grocery chain overpaid for time they took off to self-quarantine. When the coronavirus pandemic started spreading through the U.S.,...

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